Phantoms’ rally falls short to Strath Haven
After trailing for the entire second half, the Phoenixville boys basketball team had trimmed a nine-point deficit down to one late in Wednesday’s District 1-5A playoff opener against.
That’s as close as the 11thseeded Phantoms would ever get as a mini-run by the sixth-seeded Panthers was enough to push Strath Haven to a 45-40 win.
Strath Haven’s Luke Edwards scored 18 points, while Mike Memmo had 16 and Steven Hamilton 14 for Phoenixville, which ended its season with a 13-11 mark.
Phoenixville trailed 35-26 after three quarters, but the Phantoms pulled within one, 35-34, when Hamilton knocked down a pair of free throws with 3:30 left in the game.
Strath Haven responded to Phoenixville’s run with five straight points to stave off the comeback bid, keeping the Phantoms from getting back within one possession the rest of the way.
Memmo, who also had 16 points in the Phantoms’ first-round loss last year, scored 12 of his points in the first as Phoenixville went into the break, trailing 19-18. Edwards scored 10 of his 18 in the third as Strath Haven began to pull away.
Phoenixville, which graduates Hamilton, Clay Kopko, Troy Olsen and Zion Hopkins-Quinn, made it to the Pioneer Athletic Conference playoffs after a one-year absence this season and earned a district playoff spot for the sixth time in the past seven years.
This is the third time in four years Phoenixville has fallen in the first round of the district tournament as the Phantoms haven’t won a district playoff game since 2016.